Following Ben Williams' resignation after the defeat at FC Romania on Tuesday evening, coaches Paul Batchelor and Mike Hogg stepped up to the breach in a caretaker role to prepare the team for the visit of in-form Biggleswade Town.

As is so often the case, changes were enforced, with Ezra Anthonio-Forde pulling out with an injury and Dave O’Connor unavailable. Jordan Jenkins played his first match of the season at centre back alongside Jake Bewley; skipper Jack Wood was pushed forward into a central midfield role and Alfie Anderson filled in at left back. The other change saw Herbie Townsend play in midfield in place of Nasha Mukwada, with Tom McElroy moving forward to replace Anthonio-Forde.

The visitors started well and took the lead after 9 minutes. A ball played down the left flank was collected by Jon Clements who got ahead of Jenkins and shot from 15 yards. Jack Hopwood saved well, but the ball fell to Harry Draper on the edge of the penalty area, who was able to sidefoot home. 1-0 Biggleswade

Given recent events it would have been easy for the Duck’s heads to drop, but to their credit the players worked hard to compete. Ben Seaton robbed Luke Middleton in the centre circle and fed Sonny French who advanced towards the penalty are, but his shot from 20 yards was weak and wide of the target.

Shortly afterwards the dangerous Marcus Gouldbourne escaped the attentions of Harry Jones on the left and squared to Draper; this time a combination of Jenkins and Hopwood managed to block his shot from 15 yards. Harper had another great opportunity on 25, when a cross from the right by Joe Howe saw him climb unmarked 12 yards out, but his header didn’t trouble Hopwood, clearing the crossbar.

As the ball was cleared forward after that attack, McElroy robbed Middleton and advanced towards goal, but his shot from 25 yards was narrowly over the crossbar. McElroy came even closer on the half hour; Jones did well to rob Gouldbourne in his own penalty area, and fed the ball to Wood; he spotted the striker ahead of his defender and hit a perfect 45-yard pass that saw McElroy clear of Robert Parker, but his shot was well saved by visiting keeper Timmy Smith. Two minutes later and McElroy was fouled 25 yards out; the striker took the free kick himself, but again Smith was equal to the task, making a routine save.

Just as it looked as though the Ducks would reach half time just the one goal down, a lack of concentration saw the score doubled. A free kick 30 yards out was delightfully played towards the 6-yard box by Charlie Smith, where Clements ghosted away from his defender to plant a firm header past Hopwood. 2-0 Biggleswade

Half-time: Aylesbury 0-2 Biggleswade

The second half started well for the Ducks, pressing the ball and dictating the early passages of play. Two minutes after the restart a pass down the right side of the defence saw McElroy outpace his defender and fired a shot at Smith from 15 yards, but his effort was narrowly wide of the near post.

However, despite the good start to the half, the Ducks were indebted to returning keeper Hopwood just before the hour mark. Charlie Smith clipped a delightful ball over the defence on the left to find Clements who advanced into the penalty area ahead of Bewley, but the keeper was out well to save his shot at the near post.

On 66, Anderson made a fine run down the left, beating 3 visiting defenders, before shooting from 15 yards, forcing a smart save from Smith. Herbie Townsend did well on the right flank, beating his defender before squaring to McElroy, whose snap shot from 20 yards was smartly tipped over the bar by Smith. Jack Moriarty took the corner towards the near post where Townsend got ahead of the defence to flick the ball on, only to see it clear the cross bar and land on the roof of the net.

There was another scare for the home defence shortly afterwards; a deep free kick by Charlie Smith was met in the air by Draper, his header was blocked but fell back to him, which allowed him to shoot, only to find Hopwood and Bewley out quickly to block his goal bound effort. On 79 minutes Hopwood showed why he was brought back to the club; substitute Obi Onyeagwara got free of Anderson down the left and shot towards the near post; Hopwood had his angles covered and made a fine save, jumping up swiftly to block a second effort at point blank range from Liam Smyth.

On 80 minutes, Lee Stobbs replaced Townsend on the right flank, his first appearance since suffering a knee injury in January.

With seven minutes remaining, Moriarty played a fine 35-yard pass to Anderson overlapping on the left, whose cross to the far post onto the head of McElroy, but his header was wide of target.

In a cruel twist, the visitors scored a third to put the result beyond doubt as the clock ticked into the 90th minute. A cross was met by Smyth, his effort was blocked but fell into the path of full back Howe 25 yards out, who smashed a fine shot into the top corner, beating the despairing dive of Hopwood. 3-0 Biggleswade

The Ducks did get the goal their efforts deserved in the second minute of added on time; Moriarty sprayed the ball to Stobbs wide on the right; he crossed to the near post where the ball was deflected to McElroy 12 yards out and side footed the ball past Smith to score his second goal in successive matches. 1-3

The final whistle blew shortly afterwards to condemn the Ducks to a 6th successive defeat, but a match where plenty of positives could be drawn. Unlike Tuesday evening the team worked hard to get back into the game and had more of the clear-cut opportunities to score and definitely competed with the opposition. With a little more composure, confidence and self-belief in future games, results will turn and the alarming run, reminiscent of last season’s poor spell, will be reversed. Next up is the visit of Kempston Rovers on Saturday 15th October, while the search for a new manager continues.